Variable power-transmission mechanism



April 24, 1928. 1,667,290

E. c. GA YER VARIABLE POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Deb. 25, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet E. C. GAYER VARIABLE POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM April 24, 1928.

s Sheets-Sheet 24 Filed Dec. 23, 1924 'April 24, 1928.

E. C. GAYER VARIABLE POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Dec. 23, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 24, 1928. 1,667,290

E. c. GAYER VARIABLE POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Dec. 23, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 24, 1928.

E. C. GAYER VARIABLE POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM 5 sheets shee-t 5 Filed Dec; 23, 1924 "Pmmtihar. 24; p

' transmission mechanism. According to the invention thefldrivnfi UNITED \sT-AT T' OFFICE,

eo'nwat earns-,0: manor, nmm'nvamm'rowan-ron mama-mt.

Application filed necembeni, 1m, sen-L1 at. "1,037, and in Great mm mm: as, me.

This invention relates to variable power shaft or power unit actuates the driven sha through the transmission ear in such a manner that'fluctuations in X8 tor ue of the driven shaft react through the sai car on 0 a governor; or aplunger actuated y the torque of the driving shaft or a combination of the said governor and plunger or a manually or other non-automatica ly operating control. r

To enable the invention to be fully understood I will describe itby reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a longltudinal sectional elevation of one form of variable ower transmission mechanism constructe in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 3is a re 2. 1 igure 4 is anend view of the mechanism section on the line 3-3,

alld a I o v Figure 5 is a lon 1tud1nal. sect1onal elevation of a part of t e mechanism, the section being taken on the line 5--5, Figures 2 and 4.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 66, Figure 5.

Figures 7 and 8 are views illustrating modifications of the centrifugal governor and co-acting parts. a

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional elevation illustrating a modification.'

Referring" to Figures 1 to 6,1; is the driving or power unit of the mechanism which is attached by the coupling member a to the shaft of a suitable motor, not shown, and is rotatable b the latter around the axis A, the said unit eing journaled at both ends in bearings a a the bearings a bein formed at one end of a frame 12, whilst t e other bearing a is'formed in the end of the driven unit or shaft 0. The shaft 6 is co-axial with the axis A, and has its endjournalled in a bearing a in the frame b. d is a rotatable unit intermediate of, and co-axial with, the driving and driven units and mounted. to rotate freely onthe said drivingiunit and which is geared to both of the said units scribedwhen the torque of the driven unit -1s equal to the torque of the said drivrotate by the earing at a speed dependent on the torque t er'eof.

he frame 6 is in the form of ,a box casing which also forms a sump forthe oil or other flllld to be pumped for the purpose above descr]ibed(.1 i

e, an e 1 are two airs of um c lijnders former; radially (if the a is 0 f the unit d and g, h are ports arranged in the unit (a so that they communicate with each opposite pair of cylinders e, f and 6 f al ternately, and in turn, every half revolution, when any rotary movement occurs between the said units. a and d.

Mountedon the ,unit a is a centrifugal governor i controlling a sliding plunger valve j, arranged co-axiall with the unit a and covering a port is in' t e latter, the said governor ho ding the valve down on its seat j by centrifugal action, t eaction of the governor being assisted by tyvo tension sprin i z'.

This governor can be used alone where the power unit a Is normall governor maybe necessary, as shown in Figure 7 and hereinafter explained.

In another arrangement, the valve is divided into two partsas shown in Figure 8, viz, an outer ring or valvepro er used to control the. port is and'contro ed by the governor/ll and an inner plunger 7' used to equalize the fluid pressurein the system, this is also hereinafter-referred to.

l is a com ression chamber or cylinder formed in, an co-axial with, the valve j and slidable in this 0 linder is a plunger m. The cylinder Z has t ree port openings, viz, an opening 1 which serves as the outlet for either of two small force pumps n, n on unit d, and the plungers of which are operated by contact with the cam surface 0 on the unit a, an openin Z which connects the cylinder Z directly with the ort h and an opening Z which forms an ex aust port when the plunger m ismoved sufliciently far to; open it.

when the plunger m is; moved towards the end of the cylinder Zby a spring m it automatically frees the suction passage 12 from the sump formed by the casing 12. The said passage serves for either pump at as it is in connection with an annular groove or passage m in one face of a ring m mounted freely on a bearing m on the unit a, the said ring being co-axlalwith the unit and bearin against an end face thereof, through WhlCh face the passage p is formed. The groove m opens into a pendant pipe I m which forms an extension of the passage p and contains a non-return valve m. The passage p is normally blocked by a slide valve 17 Figure 5, which, when moved by a lever p bearing against a cross-head p on the end of the plunger m, when the latter is moved into the cylinder Z, forms a through passage for the oil, or other. fluid to either pump. Assuming that there is a rotary movement between units a and d to work the pumps 'n, the fluid pumped thereby will be delivered through the port Z into the cylinder Z until the pressure of oil increases sufliciently to drive the plunger or outwardly, thus allowin the valve 19 to move under the influence of the spring 12* and cut oil" the-fluid supply. en this occurs the fluid pressure in the cylinder Z will be equal,

or nearly so, to the fluid pressure in the pump cylinders e, e exerted against the valve 7', or, in other words, the fluid pressure in the cylinders f, 7 would equal or nearly equal that in the cylinders e, e. If, however, a valve as shown in Figure 8, is used, this would ensure the pressure of oil being equal throughout the system.

Mounted on, and'co-axial with, the unit a is a sun-wheel q of the epicyclic gear with which mesh planet wheels 1', 1', the latter being coaxial with and connected to two other planet wheels 8, s which mesh with another sun-wheel 't mounted on, and co-axial with, the driven unit 0. From the foregoing it will be seen that the driving connection between the units a and dis through the planet wheels 1', r and the sun-wheel g and also between the cam 0 and the pistons working in,

thecylinders e, e and 7, 7.

In the operationof the mechanism assume that the driving engine runs at a constant speed, and exerts a constant torque, and that the unit (Z isprevented from rotating on the unit a by the oil or other fiuidcompressed in the cylinders e, 6 this being the case so long as the pressure of oil is not suflicient to lift the valve 7' off its seat, and allow it to escape through the port is. The compression of this oil in the cylinders e, 61 is due to the load on the driven unit 0 tending to rotate the nnit d in a contrary direction to that of the unit a, and is only prevented from so dbing, through the oil bein incompressible, and havingno means 0 escape. It is, therefore, obvious, that the power exerted to hold the valve on vits seat, may equal, but must not. exceed, the pressure set up by the oil in the cylinders e, e to lift the valve y when the torque required to drive the unit 0 is just equal to the torque given out by the power unit a. As soon as the torque required to drive the unit 0 exceeds the torque of the engine or motor, the pressure pf oil in the cylinders e, e should be suflicient to lift the valve 7' and allow oil to escape through the port is to the cylinders f, 7. When this occurs a rotary movement is set up'between the units a: and d and the force pumps n, n are thus set working, and owing to the plunger m being forced into the cylinder Z by the spring m through the outward movement of the valve 3', the pumps n deliver oil into the said cylinder until the pressure of oil in the system is increased sufficiently to force the plunger m out again, 35 by compressing the spring m far enough to cut off the delivery of oil to the pumps. When this point is reached, the oil pressure in the Whole system is increased and equal, tending to open the valve against the pressure of the governor i and compress the sprin m as the flow of the oil is from the cylin ers e, e to the c linders f, f owing to the oil being forced rom the said cylinders e, e, and as the oil pressure in these 1 latter cylinders increases, as the load on the driven unit- 0 increases, the spring mt is still more compressed and the port is opened wider, allowing more oil to pass, and a, Y quicker movement between the units a and d1 or a bigger gear ratio, to meet the heavier torque of the driven unit 0,

Conversely, when the load on the driven unit 0 is being reduced, the pressure of oil in the cylinders e, e will be reduced, and

the governor tend to close the valve and the plunger m will tend to be forced out of the cylinder Z to follow up the movement of the valve j until the opening of the port k is just suflicient to allow the necessary flow of oil, to admit of the correct ratio of gearing to take the load on thedriven unit 0.

This movement of the plunger m will uncover the exhaust port Z so that a certain amount of oil will escape, allowing the spring m to expand again, thus pushing the plunger m back into the cylinder 9' to replace the oil lost, and reducing the oil pressure of the whole system. It must be remembered thatthe L sure on the valve j against the pressure of oil in the cylinders e, e and trying to close the said valve and would be the first agent to effect such closure, but the spring m could not expand until some of the oil had been expelled.

Direct drive is maintained as lon as the valve 7' is not lifted off its seat, as t e pressure ofoil set up in the cylinders'e, a prevents any relative, movement between the overnor zI-is always exerting presunits a and d, and thus loclrs the train of 1 gear-wheels in-the epicyclic gear, the mechanism merely acting as a direct coupling between the said units. As soon, however, as the load on the driven unit is sufficient to lift the valve j the whole mechanism is thrown out of balance, so to speak.

The improved mechanism has been described, in connection with a power unit having a constant speed and torque and should a power unit be used with variable torque'and speed, it is necessary to vary the strength of the spring m and this maybe effected, for example, by mounting'an additional centrifugal governor i on the plunger m, see Figure 7, so arranged that it presses against the spring m and tends to shorten it, and thus increases its strength as the speed of the engine and consequently the centrifugal action of the governor increases.

Figure 9 illustrates the arrangement where the torque of the driving shaft actuates a sliding plunger q either alone or in combination with the vernor or a spring hereinbefore described? In this figure the driving or motor shaft w is coupled to the driving gear through the medium of a screw thread it formed on the said driving-shaft, an exteri'sionof which constitutes the plunger 1. This plunger passes through a stufling box '0 into a hydraulic cylinder 10 formed at the end of the said driving shaft gear and having an extension provided with a female screw-thread w engaging the male thread u; a; is an extension of the valve hereinbefore described which asses into the hydraulic cylinder to throng a stufling box to at the end opposite to that containing the plunger a. The hydraulic cylinder is filled with fluid, for instance, mercury.

In the operation of the described mechanism any torque exerted by the driving shaft will produce a pressure on the fluid in the cylinder w. by movement of the plunger n due to the rotation of the screw u this pressure reacting by means of the valve j .on the pressure exerted b the pumps 0, f

and e, f hereinbefore re erred to.

In this arrangement it will be necessary to divide the functions of valve j as descrlbed with reference to Figure 8 but with the difference that the inner plunger 3" shown in the said figure will be entirely separated from the valve 7' by preference situated on the opposite side of the ports 9, h, the valve j itself being modified in design to make it suitable for the function it has to perform. Claims.

driving unit connected t '1. In a' variable power transmission mech anism, including a drivingl shaft, a rotary ereto, a rotary driven unit, and a rotary unit intermediate of and co-axial with the said dfiving and driven units; a torque responsive device connecting said driving shaft and driving unit,

comprising a rotatable casing inwardly threaded at one end to receive corresponding threads formed on said driving shaft, a hydraulic cylinder in said casing filled with a suitable fluid, a plunger also formed on the end of said driving shaft, passing through a stufling box into said cylinder, a second substantially smaller plunger extending from the opposite direction through an oppositely disposed stuffing box, into the'other side of said cylinder, its outer end forming. a connectin rod leading to a valve arrangement in sai driving unit.

2. Variable power transmission mechanism comprising a rotary driving unit, a rotary driven unit, a rotary unit intermediate of and co-axial with the said driving and driven units, an elastic pressure device carried thereby, epicyclic gearing by which the said intermediate unit is geared to said driving and driven units, hydraulic pumps carried by the intermediate unit, a valve arranged in operative relation with the elastic pressure device for controlling the supply of the fluid to the hydraulic pump, said driving unit being formed in two parts, comprising a hydraulic plunger and a hydraulic cylinder therefor, both axially rotatable, said c linder and plunger being provided respectlvely with co-acting male and female screwthreads and a second hydraulic plunger also located in the hydraulic cylinder and connected to the valve in operative relation with r the elastic pressure device, so that pressure exerted upon the fluid in said cylinder by the first mentioned hydraulic lunger, when under torque re-acts through t e medium of the second plunger and said valve against the pressure exerted by the hydraulic pumps, said pumps, when the torques of the driving and driven units are equal, cause the intermediate unit to clutch the driving unit so that the former is driven at the same s eed as the latter, whilst, when the torque o the driven unit exceeds that of the driving unit, the said units are de-clutched and the driven unit rotated by the gearing at a speed dependent on the torque thereof. 

